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Merlin's Review of "It's All Too Much" on Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools

Cool Tool: It's All Too Much

As my battle with clutter continues, one of my favorite people (and one of the smartest guys writing for the web, period), Kevin Kelly, noticed my efforts and took note of my affection for Peter Walsh's wonderful book, It's All Too Much.

My review for Cool Tools is indeed adapted from a few posts that originated here, but I think it's worth pointing to because, a) that book has had a huge influence on how I think about my relationship to "stuff," b) I'm honored that KK liked what I'd had to say about it, and c) if you aren't already reading Kevin's sites -- particularly his consistently insightful The Technium column -- you'd do yourself a favor to get acquainted fast. Kevin's the real deal.

I also like what Kevin had to add to the review, regarding the need for an "anti-stuff tool":

Merlin Mann's review turned me onto this fantastic book. We've rethought our household because of it. We were reminded that life is not about stuff; it's about possibilities, which the right tools can enable. For a world of expanding stuff, this book is the necessary anti-stuff tool.

johntkucz's picture

Anti-Stuff

A lot of the time -- believe it or not -- people fill their lives with a lot of clutter to maladaptively fill, hide, or conceal some emotional problem. You might find living with such pristine, tabletop-clear conditions challenging because the part of you that wants to fill the void of hurt, emotional lacking, or emotional confusion with materialistic clutter. I urge you: Do not develop that habit! A lot of people can't maintain cleanliness and clarity because of their inability to cope with the emotional baggage lurking in their life "underneath" the materialistic clutter! Take the heoric challenge: keep your life clean and clear and choose to embrace and actually deal with clutter that emerges in your life!

 
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